The first promise was the great nation of Israel. Having a lot of money is one thing, but being the founder of nation is a complete other thing. It probably freaked Abram out. Just knowing that the entire fate of a huge nation is resting on his obedience or not. It effected the nation of Israel for obvious reasons. The personal promise to Abram meant that Israel would not only be a nation but it would a great, powerful nation. It affected the nations because now today the nation of Israel is the constant proof that there is a God. The Israelites are proof that God takes care of those He loves. .
The least favorite part of his calling are the consequences of partial disobedience. There is a saying, "For every action there must be a reaction." It's actually one of Newton's laws of motion. However, that's beside the point. God specifically told Abram to leave his family behind. God knew that Terah's unbelief would ruin God's plan. Not saying that God had to get rid of Terah to make His plan hatch, but merely that God demands complete obedience because He is holy. When Abram disobeys God by taking both Terah and Lot, he had to be punished. The first punishment is in Haran. The Lord takes Terah away from Abram. After reminding Abram of the covenant, Abram moves on. However, trouble finds him again in Egypt.
There was a famine in the land where Abram was dwelling so he and Sarai travelled down to Egypt. When in Egypt, Abram and Sarai agreed to tell everyone they were siblings so the pharaoh didn't kill Abram to get to Sarai because she was very beautiful. This wasn't a complete lie but it was a lie still because it was only part of the truth. Because of lack of faith in Abram, Egypt got plagued and from this point the Israelites would have constant problems with the Egyptians. .
Another problem arises when Abram was 90 years old and Sarai was 80 years. They were getting impatient with God's timing.
